Judge: Blackman was gang’s leader
Published:Tuesday | February 28, 2023 | 1:22 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes indicated on Monday that based on the evidence presented by a former member of the Clansman-One Don Gang, he has found that a criminal organisation existed and it was led by Andre 'Blackman' Bryan.
The judge further said that he feels sure, based on the evidence, that Ted Prince, Jahzeal Blake and Andre Golding, Fabian Johnson and Stephanie Cole Christie are members of the gang.
Justice Sykes made the conclusion while reviewing the evidence given by Blackman's former personal driver and the gang's banker, who had detailed a shooting incident at New Fisheries, St Catherine, which was not on the indictment.
Bryan, who was initially indicted for 17 charges on the now-reduced 25-count indictment, now faces eight counts, including the leadership of a criminal organisation.
He is among 27 defendants remaining in the trial. Five were previously freed when their no-case submissions were upheld while another was murdered last August.
With the exception of Bryan, all remaining defendants are facing a charge of being part of a criminal organisation. For some, it is the only count they face.
The prosecution witness had testified that he went to the gang's headquarters in Jones Avenue, Spanish Town, on a date in 2017, where he saw defendants Golding, Blake, and Johnson as well as 'Terror' and 'Mackerel' planning a shooting in New Fisheries, St Catherine.
The witness said that Bryan instructed him and Blake to go to the area to see if the victims, who were known by Blake, were present.
The judge recalled that the witness had testified that Prince did the shooting, but that Prince and Golding later reported to Bryan that the wrong person was shot.
According to the judge, this evidence demonstrated Bryan's leadership of the gang.
Further, he said: “I am satisfied that this incident did take place. I am satisfied that on this evidence presented, a criminal organisation existed, and having regard to the role he (Bryan) played, he was the leader.”
Justice Sykes, however, pointed out that an unindicted incident can be adduced in evidence if it is relevant to a point in issue, which in this case, were membership and the existence of a criminal organisation.
He also noted that the witness, when challenged about why he had not told the police about this shooting, had readily accepted the omission while indicating that no one had asked and that there were two incidents that occurred in that community.
But Justice Sykes said he accepted that the witness raised the incident when he was asked about the use of the 'duppy truck', which is the vehicle used by the gang to conduct murders and shootings and he had no difficulty with the witness' explanation.
“The context in which it arose and how it unfolded suggests that it was not a fabrication,” he said, while adding that he also accepts that there was no forensic evidence to support the incident.
The judge also highlighted an arson incident involving a financial institution in Spanish Town, which the ex-gangster testified that the gang had carried out after the owner refused to pay extortion money.
The lone female defendant was said to have been involved in the arson attack, along with Bryan, Johnson and a now-deceased gang member called 'Mackerel'.
Justice Sykes said he found that Cole Christie was a member of the gang based on the evidence led in relation to the arson attack, notwithstanding her good character evidence and her community service.
The judge said he found that the witness was speaking the truth about the arson attack and rejected the unsworn evidence of Johnson that he was not involved and was not a member of the gang.
The judge also looked at the evidence in relation to the August 2017 murder of Damiane 'Doolie' Forrester at Chancery Street in St Andrew. The two former gang members had testified that Bryan had ordered Forrester's murder and that more than one attempt was made on his life before he was killed.
The judge said he found that two separate and distinct attempts were made on the target's life.
This shooting again not only demonstrated Bryan's leadership, Justice Sykes said, but the gang's structure in that he was not present on either of the scenes in these three incidents.
Justice Sykes will continue going through the evidence and his findings today.